Water closet

ABSTRACT

A water closet assembly adapted to be mounted on any one of a variety of bases for discharge of waste material into a drainage system, a holding tank, or the like, and which includes features for making optimum use of the flush water. The assembly includes a bowl and a pivotally mounted pan for closing the discharge outlet of the bowl and shaped so that it can provide a water seal when the pan is in its closed position. The pan can be tilted to an open position to discharge the contents of the bowl, and the actuator mechanism for tilting the bowl is operable to open a valve so that flush water will flow into the bowl in timed relation to movement of the pan. The bowl and pan are shaped to make most effective use of the flush water and to provide a desired water spot in the bowl, and an accumulation chamber is provided to measure a desired quantity of water for refilling the pan after a flushing operation.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Reference is made to copending application, Ser. No. 258,901, filed June1, 1972 in the name of Christiaan J. H. Vanden Broek now U.S. Pat. No.3,779,509.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to improvements in water closets for conservingwater and space, and which can be economically manufactured and soldwhile meeting these and other requirements.

Water conservation is progressively becoming a greater problem in oursociety, and one of the areas where waste of water resources occurs isin sanitation apparatus such as water closets and the like. Theconventional water closets use substantial volumes of water for flushingpurposes and for providing sanitary water seals or traps, and suchvolumes of water are excessive of that which is necessary merely for useas a vehicle to dispose of the waste and to provide a sanitary seal whenthe water closet is not in use. Some efforts have been made in the pastto provide flushing apparatus different from that which is found in theconventional water closets in use today. Examples of the other effortscan be seen in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 5,066, reissued Sept. 24, 1872 to H. H.Craigie and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,251,068, issued May 17, 1966 to KennethA. Millette. These citations disclose the use of pivotal pans forholding flush water in the bowl, and for discharging waste materialsfrom the bowl by tilting the pan so that some degree of waterconservation occurs. However, these prior art efforts have failed tomeet fully the needs for water closets which make the most effective useof the flush water and which are constructed and arranged to provideoptimum space utilization and efficient movement of parts. Further,needs exist in the prior art for improved water closets that haveactuating mechanisms for flushing purposes which are shielded orprotected from damage from external sources or from corrosive or otherharmful conditions that may exist within the water closet. Needs alsoexist for actuating mechanisms which have components constructed andarranged to provide ease of movement at all phases of the flushingoperation to assure substantially effortless operation and long,trouble-free life of the flush actuating mechanisms.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has overcome the inadequacies of the prior art,and provides a water closet that meets the needs of today and which canbe produced in an economical manner and which has application in avariety of forms of water closet installations.

According to one form of the present invention, a water closet isprovided having a bowl with an open lower end, a concave pan beneath thebowl supported thereon adjacent to the upper end for pivotal movementabout a horizontal axis between a first position in which the panencloses the open lower end of the bowl and a second position in whichthe pan is tilted in an elevated position at one side of the bowl. Thepan is in spaced relation to the bowl and has a depth so that when inits first position its peripheral lip is at a higher elevation than theopen lower end of the bowl so that a water seal can be provided. Waterflushing means are provided which are actuable for discharging flushwater to the interior of the bowl. An actuator mechanism is connected tothe pan and to the water flushing means for moving the pan to its secondposition and for simultaneously actuating the water flushing means todeliver flush water to the bowl while the pan is tilted and forreturning the pan to its first position and for rendering the flushingmeans inactive. The actuator mechanism includes a control means, a crankoperably connected at one end to the pan for pivotal movement around theaxis of movement of the pan, and a link connected to the other end ofthe crank and to the control means for pivoting the crank and therebythe pan in response to movement of the control means. The water flushmeans includes a rotary ball valve for controlling the flow of water,and the control means for the actuating mechanism is rotatable and isconnected to the ball valve for rotating the latter between its open andclosed positions. The link is operably connected to the rotary controlmeans for pivoting the crank and thereby the pan in response to rotarymovement of the control means. This is accomplished by a second crankoperably connected at one of its ends to the stem of the rotary ballvalve for turning therewith, the other end of the crank being connectedto the link. The rotary control means preferably is a knob mounted onthe shaft of the ball valve and having finger grip portions for turningthe knob in one direction to the open position of the ball valve. Springmeans are provided urging the stem in the other direction to the closedposition of the ball valve.

The water flushing means also includes a flush water accumulationchamber located adjacent to the upper end of the bowl and downstream ofthe ball valve for discharging by gravity a measured quantity of flushwater into the bowl after the actuating mechanism has returned the panto its first position and closed the valve. In the embodiment of theinvention disclosed herein, the flush water accumulation chambercomprises a wall portion projecting laterally from the rear side of thebowl and defining a channel having a downward slope from its upstreamend to its downstream end, the downstream end of the channel beingdirected into the upper end of the bowl tangentially thereof. Tofacilitate distribution of the water onto the interior surface of thebowl, the inner surface of the bowl defines a spiral ledge extendingaround the bowl, and the downstream end of the channel in theaccumulation chamber is aligned with the upper edge of the ledge fordelivering flush water onto the ledge. The water can then be dischargedfrom the ledge in a vortex flow as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.3,601,820, issued Aug. 31, 1971 to Charles L. Sargent et al.

Another feature of the present invention is the configuration of thebowl and the pan which provides optimum use of the water within the panso that minimum water usage is required while providing a wet spot inthe bowl of optimum size and configuration. The portion of the bowlforward of the open lower end has a circular curvature with its centeressentially on the axis of pivotal movement of the pan, and the portionof the bowl to the rear of the open lower end has a relatively steeperupwardly inclined surface. The pan, when in its closed position, is inspaced relation to the bowl and has a depth and configuration whichclosely conforms to the shape of the enclosed lower portion of the bowl.Similarly, the portions of the bowl on opposite sides of the lower endthereof also have relatively steeper upwardly inclined surfaces than theportion of the bowl forward of the open lower end, and the pan alsoconforms to the shape of these portions of the bowl.

Another feature of the present invention is the arrangement wherein abase is provided having a hollow interior and having an upper annularportion on which the bowl can be mounted. The bowl has an open upper endwith a downturned flange around the outer periphery thereof, and thedownturned flange is positioned on and secured to the upper annularportion of the base. The pan has outwardly extending hubs which aremounted in apertures in the downturned flange of the bowl for pivotalmovement, and the actuator mechanism is positioned externally of thedownturned flange so as to be protected from the corrosive or harmfulconditions that may exist within the base. The base has a second upperannular portion outwardly spaced from the first-named upper annularportion on which the bowl is mounted, and a top wall is mounted on thesecond annular portion and extends inwardly to overlie the open upperend of the bowl so that the actuator mechanism is confined within thespace between the two upper annular portions, the bowl and the top wall,thereby protecting the actuator mechanism from damage from any externalsource.

Another feature of the present invention is the arrangement whereby thebase is a separate component from the remaining water closet assembly sothat the assembly can be positioned on any of a variety of bases, suchas a conventional base having a closet flange for mounting on adischarge outlet to a sewer system, or it can be mounted on a holdingtank, or on other bases of desired configurations or sizes which havestandard upper annular portions for mounting of the remaining watercloset assembly.

Still another feature of the present invention relates to the vacuumbreaker apparatus which is constructed and arranged in association withthe water accumulation chamber so that if water should inadvertently bedischarged through the vent port of the vacuum breaker, the water sodischarged will flow into the bowl of the water closet essentially thesame as the flush water.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedwater closet that more nearly meets the needs of today than the waterclosets comprising the prior art.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are an exploded perspective view of a water closetembodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view with portions broken away toillustrate various features of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the lines 3--3 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section with portions broken away, showingdetails of the water flush means and the actuator mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken through the middle of thewater closet from the front to the rear thereof; and

FIG. 6 is a vertical section through the water closet taken on the axisof pivotal movement of the pan of the water closet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawings, the invention will be described ingreater detail. The water closet 10 includes a base 12 which in theillustrated embodiment is molded from a suitable organic plasticmaterial and has an outlet 14 at the lower end for discharge into aconventional outlet drain. The screw and nut assemblies 16 may be usedin conjunction with the seal ring 18 for securing the base 12 to aconventional closet flange (not shown) forming a part of the drainagesystem. As shown best in FIGS. 1B and 6, cavities 20 can be molded inthe base 12 to provide mounting lugs 22 through which the screw and nutassemblies 16 can pass and be secured. The present invention is notrestricted to a base having the mounting means described, becausevarious other configurations of a base may be used, and if desired, thebase 12 may be in the form of a holding tank, for example.

The base 12 has a hollow interior and an upper annular portion 22providing a continuous groove, and a second annular portion 24 which isinterrupted at the rear of the base 12, the second annular portions 24being located outwardly of the first-named annular portion 22. The upperannular portion 22 serves as a mounting place for the bowl 26. Thelatter has an open lower end 28 and an open upper end 30 with adownturned flange 32 around the outer periphery of the open upper end30. The downturned flange 32 is positioned with its terminal edge insealed relation in the groove of the upper annular portion 22 of thebase 12. A suitable sealant material 34 provides a hermetic seal betweenthe lower terminal end of the flange 32 and the upper annular portion22. Bosses 36 are provided around the outer periphery of the bowl 26into which a plurality of screws 38 extend for securing the bowl 26 tothe base 12. Extending outwardly from the upper end 30 and forming anintegral part of the bowl 26 is the ledge 40 which defines a flush wateraccumulation chamber 42. The accumulation chamber has a vacuum breakerriser 44 at its one end through which flush water can be introduced intothe accumulation chamber as will be described hereafter. A baffle 46extends lengthwise through the accumulation chamber 42 so as to providea channel 47 with a downward slope for flow of flush water from theriser 44 to the outlet end 48 of the channel 47 along the path indicatedby the arrows 50. Water following the path indicated by arrows 50 willbe discharged into bowl 26 onto the spiral ledge 51 for vortex flow tothe lower end 8 as is described in greater detail in the aforesaid U.S.Pat. No. 3,601,820. A vacuum breaker cover 52 is provided for fittingwithin the accumulation chamber 42 and restricting the width of thechannel 47. The cover 52 is secured to the ledge 40 by a plurality ofscrews 53.

A concave pan 54 is positioned beneath the bowl 26, and is supported onthe downturned flange 32 for pivotal movement between a first positionshown in solid lines in FIG. 5 in which the pan 54 encloses the openlower end 28 of the bowl 26 and a second position shown in broken linesin FIG. 5 in which the pan 54 is tilted at an elevated position at oneside of the bowl 26. The portion 56 of the bowl 26 forward of the openlower end 28 has a circular curvature with its center essentially on theaxis 58 about which the pan pivots. The pan 54 is in close spacedrelationship to the bowl 26, and its forward portion 60 similarly has acircular configuration with its center also essentially on the axis 58.The portion 62 of the bowl 26 rearward of the open lower end 28 has arelatively steeper upwardly inclined surface and the rear portion 64 ofthe pan 54 conforms to this configuration of the bowl. As can be seenbest in FIG. 6, the portions 66 and 68 on opposite sides of the bowl arerelatively closer together than the front and rear portions 56 and 62 ofthe bowl and the pan has side portions 70 and 72 which conform generallyto the shape of the side portions of the bowl 26. Thus, the pan conformsclosely when in its first position to the configuration of the bowl sothat only a limited amount of water is required between the exterior ofthe bowl and the interior of the pan to provide a water seal between thebase 12 and the bowl 26. Also, by virtue of the configuration of theportions 56, 62, 66 and 68, a wet spot of desired dimension is providedin the bowl. Thus, minimum water is required to serve as a sealant andalso to provide the desired wet spot in the bowl 26, and the curvaturesprovided at the portion 56 of the bowl and the portion 60 of the panassure that a minimum dimension is required between the bottom of thepan 54 and the upper edge of the bowl 26. The bowl 26 also has a flangeor abutment 73 depending from its bottom surface against which theforward lip of the pan 54 can abut when in its first position. Thisflange or abutment can also function as a baffle to restrict loss ofwater from the pan if the water closet 10 is subjected to motion, suchas might occur if it were in a travel vehicle, for example.

As previously indicated, the pan 54 is supported for pivotal movement onthe downturned flange 32 of the bowl 26. For this purpose, thedownturned flange 32 has aligned holes 74 and 76 on the axis of pivotalmovement of the pan 54, and the pan 54 has hubs 78 and 80 extendingoutwardly through these holes for supporting the pan. As actuatormechanism 82 is connected to the hub 80 for pivoting the pan 26 betweenits first and second positions.

Associated with the actuator mechanism 82 is the water flush means 84which includes the rotary ball valve 86, the vacuum breaker means 88 andthe accumulation chamber 42. The ball valve 86 is secured to the bowl 26by screws 87 and preferably is constructed according to the teachingsfound in pending application Ser. No. 258,901, filed June 1, 1972 in thename of Christiaan J. H. Vanden Broek, but in the embodiment illustratedin the present application, the valve stem 90 extends vertically upward.For a detailed description of the ball valve 86, reference is made tothe copending application. When the ball 92 is rotated 90° by turning ofthe stem 90, the valve will be opened, and when returned to the positionshown in FIG. 4, the hole 91 in the ball 92 will be alignedperpendicular with the passageway through the valve 86. When the valveis open water can flow through the riser 44, raising the float 94 to aelevated position so that the vent opening 95 is closed and so thatwater can flow into the accumulation chamber 42. When the stem 90 andthereby the ball 92 is rotated to its closed position the vacuum breakerfloat 94 will descend to a seated position on the riser 44. The vacuumbreaker float 94 functions to prevent siphoning of water from theaccumulation chamber back into the source of water supply. If watershould inadvertently leak through the vent opening 95 for any reason,the water that has leaked will flow over the outer surface of the cover52 and will be discharged into the bowl 26 at the outlet end 48 of thechannel 47.

The actuator mechanism 82 is operatively connected to the pan 54 and tothe water flushing means 82 for moving the pan to its second positionand for simultaneously actuating the flushing means 82 to deliver flushwater to the bowl 26 while the pan is tilted and for returning the panto its first position and for rendering the flushing means inactive byclosing the ball valve 86. The actuator mechanism 82 includes thecontrol member or knob 96, which is properly located by clip 97, and thecrank 98 which is connected at one end to the hub 80 of the pan 54 forpivotal movement around the axis of the pan. This is accomplished byproviding a transverse slot 100 in the crank 98, the slot 100 fittingover the projections 102 in the hub 80 so that the crank must rotatewith the hub 80. Suitable fastening means 104 are provided for securingthe crank 98 in place on the hub 80. Other suitable fastening means 105are associated with hub 78. A link 106 is connected to the other end ofthe crank 98 by means of the hole 108 therein, and longitudinal movementof the link 106 will serve to move the crank between the solid lineposition and the broken line position shown in FIG. 4. This movement ofthe crank 98 will serve to move the pan 54 between its first and secondpositions.

The actuator mechanism 82 also includes the second crank 110. The link106 is operably connected to the rotary control means or knob 96 forlongitudinal movement in response to rotation of knob 96. The operableconnection is provided by the second crank 110 which is seated on theupper end of the ball valve stem 90 for rotation therewith. The crank110 has an aperture 112 at one end for receiving the end of the link106. Thus, rotation of the rotary control means or knob 96 will functionsimultaneously to turn the ball valve 86 between its closed and openpositions and also to tilt the pan 54 between its first positionenclosing the lower end of the bowl 26 and its second position whereinit is tilted to discharge the contents of the pan. For the purpose ofreturning the rotary control means 96 to its position wherein the pan isin its first position, a bracket 114 is secured to the bowl at theflange 116 by the screw 118, and a coil spring 120 is connected betweenthe bracket 114 and the link 106 to urge the latter to the positionwherein the crank 98 is shown in its solid line position in FIG. 4.Preferably, the knob 96 has finger recesses for turning the knob 96 onlyin one direction in opposition to the action of coil spring 120.

A top wall 122 is mounted on the second annular portion 24 of the base12 and extends inwardly to overlie the upper end of the bowl 26 so thatthe actuator mechanism 82 extends through the space defined between theupper annular portions 22 and 24, the bowl 26 and the top wall 122.Thus, the actuator mechanism 82 is completely protected within thisconfined space, and only the knob 96 is exposed to the exterior throughthe opening 124 in the top wall 122. By virtue of being confined in thisspace, the actuating mechanism is also protected against any harmful orcorrosive effects that may emanate from the space within the hollow base12.

Mounted above the top wall 122 in hinged relation thereto is the seat126 and the cover 128. The latter two are pivotally connected to the topwall 122 by means of the pins 130 which are locked in place by the clips132.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that when the knob96 is rotated against the action of the spring 120, the ball valve 86will be opened and simultaneously the pan 54 will be pivoted to itstilted or second position. The water will flow from the ball valve 86 tothe accumulation chamber, and when the flushing of the bowl 26 is to beterminated, the knob 96 will be released and the spring 120 will thenreturn the pan to its first or lowered position and simultaneously theball valve 86 will be closed. The water which has accumulated in theaccumulation chamber 42 will then flow through the channel 47 into theinterior of the bowl 26 to provide a measured quantity of water thereinso that an effective water seal is provided between the pan 54 and thebowl 26 and a wet spot in the bowl 26 of maximum effective area thanexists consistent with minimum volume of water in the pan.

It is claimed:
 1. A water closet comprising a bowl having an open upperend and an open lower end, a concave pan beneath said bowl and supportedthereon at the upper end thereof for pivotal movement about a horizontalaxis between a first position in which said pan encloses said open lowerend and a second position in which said pan is tilted in an elevatedposition at one side of said bowl, said pan being in spaced relation tosaid bowl and having a depth so that when in its first position itsperipheral lip is at a higher elevation than the open lower end of saidbowl, water flushing means actuable for discharging flush water to theinterior of said bowl, and an actuator mechanism connected to said panand to said water flushing means for moving said pan to its secondposition and for simultaneously actuating said flushing means to deliverflush water to the bowl while the pan is tilted and for returning thepan to its first position and for rendering said flushing meansinactive, said actuator mechanism including a control means, a crankhaving at one end a crank axis coincident with said horizontal axis,said crank being operably connected at said one end to said pan forpivotal movement with said pan around said horizontal axis, and a linkconnected to the other end of said crank and to said control means forpivoting said crank and thereby said pan around said horizontal axis inresponse to movement of said control means.
 2. The water closet that isdefined in claim 1, wherein said water flush means includes a rotaryball valve for controlling flow of the flush water, and the controlmeans of said actuating mechanism is rotatable and is connected to saidball valve for rotating the latter between its open and closedpositions, said link being operably connected to said rotary controlmeans for pivoting said crank and thereby said pan in response to rotarymovement of said control means.
 3. The water closet that is defined inclaim 2, wherein said actuating mechanism includes a second crankoperably connected at one of its ends to the stem of said rotary ballvalve for turning therewith, the other end of said second crank beingconnected to said link.
 4. The water closet that is defined in claim 3,wherein said rotary control means includes a knob mounted on the shaftof said ball valve having finger grip portions for turning said knob inone direction to the open position of said ball valve, and spring meansfor urging said stem in the other direction to the closed position ofsaid ball valve.
 5. A water closet comprising a bowl having an openlower end, a concave pan beneath said bowl supported for movementbetween a first position in which said pan encloses said open lower endand a second position in which said pan is tilted in an elevatedposition at one side of said bowl, said pan being in spaced relation tosaid bowl and having a depth so that when in its first position itsperipheral lip is at a higher elevation than said open lower end, waterflushing means actuable for discharging flush water to the interior ofsaid bowl, and an actuator mechanism connected to said pan and to saidwater flushing means for moving said pan to its second position and forsimultaneously actuating said flushing means to deliver flush water tothe bowl while the pan is tilted and for returning the pan to its firstposition and for rendering said flushing means inactive, said waterflushing means including a valve adapted to be opened to supply flushwater, a flush water accumulation chamber located adjacent to the upperend of said bowl and downstream of said valve for discharging by gravitya measured quantity of flush water into said bowl after said actuatingmechanism has returned the pan to its first position and closed saidvalve, said flush water accumulation chamber including a wall portionprojecting laterally from the rear side of said bowl and defining achannel having a downward slope from its upstream end to its downstreamend, the downstream end of said channel being directed into the upperend of said bowl tangentially thereof.
 6. The water closet that isdefined in claim 5, wherein a vacuum breaker riser extends upward insaid accumulation chamber at the upstream end of said channel throughwhich flush water can enter said accumulation chamber from said valve.7. The water closet that is defined in claim 6, wherein said vacuumbreaker riser is located to the rear of and laterally of said bowl, andsaid channel extends transversely of said bowl and has a reverse bendwith the downstream end thereof discharging tangentially into said bowlat a location adjacent to said riser.
 8. The water closet that isdefined in claim 5, wherein said bowl defines in its inner wall a spiralledge extending around said bowl, and the downstream end of said channelis aligned with the upper end of said ledge for delivering flush wateronto said ledge.
 9. A water closet comprising a bowl having an openupper end and an open lower end, a concave pan beneath said bowlsupported for pivotal movement between a first position in which saidpan encloses said open lower end and a second position in which said panis tilted in an elevated position at the rear of said bowl, said panbeing supported for pivotal movement around an axis located at the upperend of the bowl and in a vertical transverse plane passing essentiallythrough the center of said open lower end, the portion of the bowlforward of said open lower end having a circular curvature with itscenter essentially on said axis and the portion of the bowl to the rearof said open lower end having a relatively steeper upwardly inclinedsurface, the portions of said bowl on opposite sides of said open lowerend having relatively steeper upwardly inclined surfaces than saidportion of the bowl forward of said open lower end, said portions onopposite sides being relatively closer together than the front and rearportions of said bowl, said pan being in spaced relation to said bowland having a depth and a configuration so that when in its firstposition the peripheral lip of the pan is at a higher elevation thansaid open lower end and the pan closely conforms to the shape of theenclosed lower portion of the bowl, water flushing means actuable fordischarging flush water to the interior of said bowl, said panconforming to the shape of the enclosed lower portion of the bowl so asto provide a wet spot of maximum effective area in the bowl consistentwith minimum volume of water when the pan contains water above the levelof the lower end of the bowl, an actuator mechanism connected to saidpan and to said water flushing means for moving said pan to its secondposition and for simultaneously actuating said flushing means to deliverflush water to the bowl while the pan is tilted and for returning thepan to its first position and for rendering said flushing meansinactive, and a flush water accumulation chamber located adjacent to theupper end of said bowl and downstream of said flushing means fordischarging by gravity a measured quantity of flush water into said bowlafter said actuating mechanism has returned the pan to its firstposition.
 10. The water closed that is defined in claim 9, wherein saidbowl defines in its inner wall a spiral ledge extending around saidbowl, and said accumulation chamber has a downstream end for dischargingthe measured quantity of flush water tangentially into said bowl ontothe upper end of said ledge.
 11. A water closet comprising a base with ahollow interior and having an upper annular portion for mounting a bowl,a bowl having an open lower end and an open upper end with a downturnedflange around the outer periphery thereof, said downturned flange beingpositioned on and secured to the upper annular portion of said base, aconcave pan beneath said bowl supported on the downturned flange formovement between a first position in which said pan encloses said openlower end and a second position in which said pan is tilted in anelevated position at one side of said bowl, the portion of the bowlforward of said open lower end having a circular curvature with itscenter essentially on the axis of movement of the pan and the portion ofthe bowl to the rear of said open lower end having a relatively steeperupwardly inclined surface, said pan being in spaced relation to saidbowl and having a depth and a configuration so that when in its firstposition the peripheral lip of the pan is at a higher elevation thansaid open lower end and the pan closely conforms to the shape of theenclosed lower portion of the bowl, water flushing means actuable fordischarging flush water to the interior of said bowl, and an actuatormechanism on the outer side of said downturned flange operativelyconnected to said pan and to said water flushing means for moving saidpan to its second position and for simultaneously actuating saidflushing means to deliver flush water to the bowl while the pan istilted and for returning the pan to its first position and for renderingsaid flushing means inactive, said water flushing means including avalve adapted to be opened to supply flush water, a flush wateraccumulation chamber located adjacent to the upper end of said bowl anddownstream of said valve for discharging by gravity a measured quantityof flush water into said bowl after said actuating mechanism hasreturned the pan to its first position and closed said valve.
 12. Thewater closet that is defined in claim 11, wherein said actuatormechanism includes a control member, a crank operably connected at oneend to said pan for pivotal movement around said axis, and a linkconnected to the other end of said crank for pivoting said crank andthereby said pan in response to movement of said control member.
 13. Thewater closet that is defined in claim 11, wherein said downturned flangehas aligned holes on the axis of movement of said pan, and said pan hashubs extending outwardly through said holes for supporting the pan, saidactuator mechanism being operatively connected to one of said hubs formoving said pan.
 14. The water closet that is defined in claim 11,wherein said bowl defines in its inner wall a spiral ledge extendingaround said bowl, and said accumulation chamber has a downstream end fordischarging flush water tangentially into said bowl onto the upper endof said ledge.
 15. The water closet that is defined in claim 11, whereinsaid flush water accumulation chamber comprises a wall portionprojecting laterally from the rear side of said bowl and defining achannel having a downward slope from its upstream end to its downstreamend, the downstream end of said channel being directed into the upperend of said bowl.
 16. The water closet that is defined in claim 11,wherein the forward portion of said bowl has a flange extending in adownward direction from its bottom wall for engagement with the forwardportion of the peripheral lip of said pan.
 17. A water closet comprisinga bowl having an open lower end, a concave pan beneath said bowlsupported for movement between a first position in which said panencloses said open lower end and a second position in which said pan istilted in an elevated position at one side of said bowl, said pan beingin spaced relation to said bowl and having a depth so that when in itsfirst position its peripheral lip is at a higher elevation than saidopen lower end, water flushing means actuable for discharging flushwater to the interior of said bowl, and an actuator mechanism connectedto said pan and to said water flushing means for moving said pan to itssecond position and for simultaneously actuating said flushing means todeliver flush water to the bowl while the pan is tilted and forreturning the pan to its first position and for rendering said flushingmeans inactive, said water flushing means including a valve adapted tobe opened to supply flush water, a flush water accumulation chamberlocated adjacent to the upper end of said bowl and downstream of saidvalve for discharging by gravity a measured quantity of flush water intosaid bowl after said actuating mechanism has returned the pan to itsfirst position and closed said valve, said flush water accumulationchamber including a wall portion projecting laterally from the rear sideof said bowl and defining a channel having a downward slope from itsupstream end to its downstream end, the downstream end of said channelbeing directed into the upper end of said bowl tangentially thereof, anda vacuum breaker riser extending upward in said accumulation chamber atthe upstream end of said channel through which flush water can entersaid accumulation chamber from said valve, said accumulation chamberincluding a cover with a vent opening aligned with said vacuum breakerriser, and a vacuum breaker float mounted in said riser for reciprocalmovement between a first position closing the upper end of said riserand in response to flush water pressure to an elevated position closingsaid vent opening, said cover having a configuration so that if flushwater should inadvertently be discharged through said vent opening thedischarged water will flow to said bowl.